Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) is considering developing a freighter version of the A330neo, Bloomberg has reported citing sources familiar with the matter.

According to the report, Amazon.com and the United Parcel Service (UPS) operator UPS Airlines (5X, Louisville International) are the prospective customers behind the request given a surge in demand for global freighter traffic. They are said to have asked the European manufacturer to consider stretching the A330-900’s fuselage so as to carry more cargo while flying a shorter range. An A330neo freighter would be a competitor to Boeing's B767-300F product which has seen a slowdown in production given the US airframer's focus on producing the KC-46A military tanker for the United States Air Force (MC, Washington National).

Neither party has chosen to confirm their interest in such a variant with UPS dismissing its alleged interest as "speculation".

The ch-aviation fleets module shows that of the thirty-eight A330-200Fs built, thirty-one are currently active while the first A330-300(P2F) converted freighter was only recently deployed into service with ASL Airlines Ireland (ABR, Dublin International) which operates it for Air Hong Kong (LD, Hong Kong International).